"In these times, acceleration spoils everything," said Heinz-Klaus
Metzger, a prominent musicologist whose chance comments at an organ
conference nine years ago sparked the project. "To begin a performance
with the perspective of more than a half-millennium — it's just a kind
of negation of the lifestyle of today."...But its signifcance is lost on some. Rainer Neugebauer, another member
of the foundation, said it was hard to convince some local people of
the project's value. "It doesn't sound like Beethoven," he said.

I suppose the 24 hour stretch version of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony can't really be considered an authentic interpretation...

Time rolls on. The playing of two new notes in the 639-year performance of John Cage's Organ2/ASLSP is getting good blogosphere reaction...

• In an abandoned church in the German town of Halberstadt, the world's longest concert moved two notes closer to its end Monday: Three years down, 636 to go. The addition of an E and E-sharp complement the G-sharp, B and G-sharp that have been playing since February 2003 in composer John Cage's "Organ2/ASLSP" — or "Organ squared/As slow as possible." Yahoo via chittah-chattah

• John Cage's "Organ2/ASLSP" or "Organ squared/As" adds two more
notes to the concert that has been playing for 3 years and is expected to last 639 years Composition.Brainhop News: Strange, funny and interesting news stories around the world.

• Largo to infinity:...The [work's] title comes from the tempo Cage had in mind when the work would be played: "as slow as possible." modwheel links to the NPR site covering the work, including a short Real sample of the first three notes from Halberstadt.